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Maroon Carrots
BetaSweet Variety Crunchier & Sweeter
By Karen Gentry
Managing Editor Maroon carrots have been around for a long time, but were often discarded because people thought carrots are supposed to be orange. Dr. Leonard Pike from Texas A&M University decided to breed a maroon carrot to match Texas A&M colors. Then along came the health news and cancer research that show that the anthocyanins found in maroon carrots and many berries help prevent blood clotting and certain types of cancer. The maroon carrot also has 40% more beta-carotene than conventional carrots. Crunchier, sweeter and healthier are words used to describe the new BetaSweet maroon carrots. “It’s more crispy and easier to chew than normal carrots. It has more juice in it and when you chew it has more flavor,” said Pike. The maroon carrot has been on the market for four or five years, according to Pike. Now this carrot with a maroon flesh and golden orange interior is gaining more attention as it’s made into more forms like carrot sticks, shredded carrots and even mixed with fruit juices and made into frozen juice bars. Pike, who is director of the Vegetable and Fruit Improvement Center at Texas A&M, said the university holds the trademark for the carrots and gives out licenses. The university gave an exclusive license to J&D Produce in south Texas to grow and distribute the BetaSweet maroon carrot in North America. The company contracts with growers for the maroon carrots and will grow as much as the market demands, according to Pike. The maroon carrots are also currently grown by a company in Australia. Northwest Naturals, a company in Washington state is using the maroon carrots to make juice and juice bars by mixing it with fruit juices. “It makes a very good juice. It doesn’t have a strong carrot flavor,” said Pike. Pike said that most of the carrots are grown in Texas and Mexico. “They’ve done well in trials in Oregon this year,” said Pike. “Just about anywhere carrots are gown, they can be grown,” he said. J&D Produce, Inc., a family-owned company that handles more than 50 vegetables, recently introduced the new fresh cut packages of BetaSweet maroon carrots. J&D Produce, which also operates as Little Bear Produce, will offer fresh cut maroon carrot sticks in cellophane packages to supermarkets beginning Spring 2003. They are aiming their appeal to parents and children who want healthy, convenient snack and recipe options. J&D also wants to offer flexible options for chefs and food service distributors to work with the maroon carrots by providing 12-pound, 24-pound or 50-pound options - with or without tops. “It’s common knowledge that Americans are dieting more and getting heavier as a population. Our fast-paced lifestyles leave little time or energy for preparing healthy meals at home, and both children and adults are not getting the nutritional benefits they need,” said Jimmy Bassetti, founder of J&D Produce. J&D Produce have sought out the opinions of children with the new carrots at the Rusk School Health Promotion Project at Rusk Elementary School in the Houston, Texas area. “The children liked the carrots very much. They are crisper and sweeter than regular carrots. They especially liked the way they were prepared - raw, sliced in sticks and rounds. The parent’s reaction also was very positive,” said Gunzalo Murillo, health education coordinator at the school. Chefs at fine dining restaurants in Texas also have favorable opinions of the maroon carrot. David Garrido, executive chef for Jeffrey’s Restaurant & Bar in Austin is featured in an ad for J&D Produce in the September 2002 issue of Chef magazine. Garrido said the maroon carrots are a way of serving customers something out of the ordinary. Bruce Auden, executive chef and owner of Biga on the Banks in San Antonio and a two-time nominee for the coveted James Beard Award has been using the maroon carrot in recipes ever since he learned of them in 2000. Auden and his wife, Debra, also introduced the carrots to their children. “At Biga, I like to use the maroon carrots with a natural-fed veal and grits entrée because of the excellent color contrast,” Auden said. He has created a maroon carrot balsamic and honey puree that he uses with Texas venison dishes. He said his children love the maroon carrots because they are sweeter and have a great crunch. For more information about the maroon carrot or other J&D Products, visit www.littlebearproduce.com. |
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The Vegetable Growers News 343 South Union Street - PO Box 128 Sparta, Michigan 49345 616-887-9008 | fax 616-887-2666 | email |
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